Love is war, and the first one to fall loses
by yoshiki-tan
Summary: This time, Kise is the one who screws up when Aomine finds out that he's been hiding something. Follows the jobs AU. AoKise, and other pairings. Sequel to Relationship Recovery Plan, but can be read independently.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: **I originally intended for this to be an extra to Relationship Recovery Plan, but then I thought it could expand to something longer. So yep! This is a sequel, but can be read independently.

**Disclaimer: **Do not own.

* * *

It is the end-of-year holiday season. People are booking flights left, right and centre to places left, right and centre; be it families having a vacation in Australia, or couples enjoying a honeymoon to Europe.

"Mm, Europe?" Aomine looks up from Kise's lap. "You want to go to Europe?"

"No, not really…" Kise _has _been to Europe, and way too often than he would like to. The tours with the airline staff have not been all that fun either, what with the swooning air stewardesses and even the occasional Caucasian.

"Then – you wanna go somewhere next week? You're off, right?" Aomine shifts to a more comfortable position. "We can go to a hot spring or something."

"Ah, yeah…"

Actually, Kise has a problem, and a really big one at that. He _was _supposed to be off next week, but the end-of-year holiday season, being the airline's busiest period, also means that it is the you-don't-get-your-break-if-you're-a-pilot season. Having received a call from his boss who told him that his break was off and he had to get back to work next week, Kise has put off telling Aomine this bit of news for days.

And he would have continued doing that, except that today is Sunday, and he needs to fly off to Munich tomorrow. In about seventeen hours' time, to be exact.

He phoned Kuroko desperately for help yesterday, but he was not much of help. "It's your fault for keeping it from Aomine-kun," Kuroko said. "Just tell him directly. Kise-kun, you should work out your problems for yourself." And then he promptly hung up.

Kise is really regretting his stupidity for keeping it to himself, but since things are already the way they are, he can only spill the beans – and endure the wrath which is sure to come.

It isn't completely his fault, to be fair; Aomine had grinned so happily – so rare and _so _adorable – when Kise told him that he was on prolonged break.

"Kise?" Aomine says suddenly, making Kise jump. "You okay? You look kind of down."

"I'm fine!" Kise answers a little too quickly, and his voice is a little too squeaky. "Just a bit sleepy."

"Let's go to bed then?" Aomine starts to sit up, and Kise feels a pang of guilt in his chest. Since their last fight, Aomine has been kinder and gentler, and not to mention much more sensitive – to the point that Kise often wonders what caused that change in just one day. He was also clingier, for some reason, but Kise is far from complaining.

Okay, he _really _needs to tell Aomine that he's leaving in sixteen hours and fifty minutes. Just grit his teeth, and get it over quickly. "Aominecchi, I – "

"Mm?"

"I – "

"Yeah?"

" … I'll go take a bath first."

On his way to the bathroom, Kise feels Aomine's slightly worried eyes on his back, and curses himself mentally for being such a spineless chicken.

* * *

Kagami turns his wardrobe upside-down for his last dry pair of sweatpants, before remembering that he lent it to Kise. The rain came down on his laundry last night, and as a result, most of his clothes are still dripping water. The weather still looks quite gloomy, and he doesn't think that the laundry will dry anytime soon.

Maybe he could ask Kise if it's possible to return his clothes (it's been over a week, after all). He'd heard from Kuroko that the pilot is departing tomorrow, so he should call him now.

"What the hell do you want?" A voice says hostilely when the phone is finally picked up after a long time.

"Oh, uh, is Kise in?" Kagami realizes that it's Aomine, but why's he so annoyed?

"What do you want with Kise?" If it's even possible, Aomine sounds more aggressive now.

"Hah?" Kagami says incredulously. "I just wanted to ask him if it's possible to return my clothes before he flies off tomorrow."

There is a lengthy silence on the other side of the phone.

"Hello?" Kagami prompts.

"… Flying off? Flying off where?" Aomine sounds confused.

Kagami has a feeling that he might have started an entire war.

* * *

Reviews would, of course, be lovely!


	2. Chapter 2

A good thirty seconds has passed since Aomine ended the call, but he continues to stare at the phone with three words emblazoned in his mind (in bold font): WHAT THE HELL.

What the hell is this? Why the hell didn't Kise tell him? Why the hell did he have to find out from _Kagami _of all people? And most importantly, why the hell did Kagami know about this and he didn't (wasn't he supposed to be the boyfriend)?

Exhaling, Aomine threw the phone onto the bed before sitting down heavily on the mattress. Okay, he needs to calm down. In his state right now, he will probably go on a rampage the moment Kise steps out of the bath and cause catastrophic consequences – which are, of course, not good.

Instead of throwing a tantrum like some kid, Aomine thought he should sit down (well, he's already sitting down) and consider his options. It's definitely not his fault this time – as far as he knows – so he has the initiative to grab Kise and shake out a good explanation as to why Bakagami knew about this way before him, the actual boyfriend –

– Ugh, _no. _

This is exactly what Aomine wants to avoid doing, but somehow he just ends up going down the same flow of thoughts during his next few attempts at logical reasoning as well. Damn, has he turned into some kind of jealous clingy girlfriend? (That was supposed to be Kise's job – not that Aomine minds.)

In that moment Aomine realises with a jolt that the shower has stopped running. This means that he only has about ten minutes – Kise usually takes some time to smear products that Aomine can't even begin to comprehend over his face after a bath – to think up a proper reaction.

He could A) Grab Kise and shake out a good explanation from him, B) Pretend nothing happened and wait for Kise to finally tell him (he _has _to, right?), or C) Pretend to be asleep so that he doesn't have to squeeze his brain dry any longer. (Anyway, why the hell is he even the one worrying? It's not even his fault this time!)

Well, A is a flat no, and Aomine isn't one to pretend, so B and C are out too.

… Shit.

Okay. Calm down and think. So far A is still the most tempting option, but maybe he could give a less forceful response. Yeah, that sounds good; he could ask Kise nicely if he has anything to tell him – now that Aomine thinks about it, this is probably the reason why Kise was acting weirdly just now, which means that he has to be troubled as well.

Okay. Have a nice, civil conversation. Smile. Don't shout. _Don't lose your temper._

When Kise finally steps out of the bathroom, Aomine has arranged his face into a wide, albeit slightly forced smile.

"Is there anything you want to tell me?"

* * *

"Is there anything you want to tell me?" Aomine says. With a smile.

'Oh crap' is Kise's first reaction, for Aomine's smile is clearly strained and even the corners of his mouth are twitching. Did he find out? But _how_?

"If there's anything on your mind, just go ahead and tell me." Aomine continues.

The smile stretched across Aomine's face, along with the uncharacteristic amiability, is starting to freak Kise out. _He knows, _his inner voice screams. _He definitely knows. _

Then why is he being so nice? While it's true that Aomine's attitude has improved considerably since their last fight (much to Kise's delight), Kise has still been certain that Aomine would have grabbed him and shaken the hell out of him for a proper explanation over this matter.

Kise looks at Aomine's atypical smile again and isn't so sure that he would mind the shaking so much.

"Kise?"

Actually, this is a good chance to tell the truth, since Aomine has obviously found out already and is being nice about it for some strange reason. Who knows, if he's lucky, Aomine might not even get (very) angry.

"I, uh…"

"Yeah?"

"I – I need to…"

"It's okay, take your time."

Okay, okay. Take a deep breath. Here goes –

"I – " Crap. Looking up is a bad idea, because all of Kise's resolve is lost when he meets Aomine's eyes. " – I need to go to the bathroom!"

_Shit. Good job, Kise Ryouta, you invertebrate. _

Turning tail immediately to flee back into the bathroom, Kise ignores Aomine's indignant sputtering and locks the door behind him.

"Oi, Kise!" The knocks on the door are especially loud to Kise's ears. "Oi!"

After a while, however, Aomine's silhouette retreats as Kise hears a low swear. It's soft, but he heard it all the same. It's not Aomine's fault, he would be angry too if he were dealing with someone like this.

Kise doesn't know why he's behaving like this himself. Everything would have been alright if he just went ahead and told Aomine that he has work next week. But he just _couldn't _bring himself to it, not with the soft kisses and awkward – as though Aomine isn't used to it yet – but sweet gestures.

It's almost as though he's afraid that this new gentleness will disappear.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: **I forgot to say happy new year at the last update, so happy new year! Though it's a bit late OTL

* * *

A long while after the light in the bedroom has gone out, Kise finally deems it safe for him to start creeping out of the bathroom. He takes a nervous peek from the door, only to find that the bed is empty. A sinking sensation spreads in his chest as he peers into the living room instead, desperately hoping that Aomine is on the couch or in the kitchen – anywhere still in the house.

"Aominecchi?" Kise calls out tentatively, but there is no response. He then spots the familiar silhouette sprawled on the couch, to his relief. The relief is short-lasted, however, as a pang in his heart replaces it almost immediately. Is Aomine so mad that he doesn't want to sleep on the same bed with him anymore?

On the couch, Aomine rolls over and scrunches his shirt up in the process, exposing his stomach. This is a bad habit of his that has persisted for all this time; Kise always wondered how Aomine never got sick from this. Maybe the saying that idiots don't catch colds is really true. Nevertheless, Kise retrieves a blanket from the bedroom and tucks it around Aomine's shoulders.

Kise knows that it's his own fault that he'll be alone in the double bed tonight, that he won't get to hear a proper 'goodbye' before he flies off for two weeks. How did things turn out like this? _Why couldn't he just spit it out for goodness' sake?_

Trying hard not to cry, Kise whispers, "I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry," Aomine hears Kise's choked whisper before the blond crosses the room, the door of the bedroom shutting with a small 'thud' after him.

Aomine rolls over again and ignores the scrunched-up blanket. If Kise had only stayed for a second longer, Aomine would have gripped his hand and asked him what on earth was wrong. But he was groggy, and Kise had bolted for the bedroom as though his life depended on it.

The truth is, Aomine is confused-as-hell at the moment. Heck, he has been confused-as-hell this entire evening. First it was Kise's weird behaviour and then Kagami's phone call _and then _Kise's weird behaviour all over again.

Aomine would apologise, he really would, but he's a hundred and one percent certain he hasn't done anything. How the heck do you apologise when it's not even your fault?!

Come to think of it, Kise's been acting somewhat weirdly ever since they made up. He was always a little absent-minded, even though Aomine took care to avoid blurting out insensitive things. Was he – unhappy? No. Rather than unhappy, it's more like he was worried or something.

That's it. Kise has to be fretting over something random again in that little head of his. It has been this way since high school; the issue of 'I don't have boobs so are you sure you're fine with me' alone took _years _for Kise to get over, even with Aomine's constant reassuring (in the end, Aomine had no choice but to throw away his porn stash).

So what is it now?

Aomine totally isn't used to this guesswork and besides, isn't it Kise's fault for not mentioning that he needed to get back to work? Why can't he just go ahead and say it? And why the hell is he the one getting all bothered?

* * *

_Ugh_, Aomine thinks. It may as well become his favourite word.

When his alarm rings punctually at 9 am, Kise isn't sure if he slept at all. His eyes feel swollen – either from crying or a lack of sleep, or rather, both – and his vision is a little blur. Definitely not good for a pilot.

Kise looks around and is not surprised to find the house empty, for it's Monday and Aomine has work, yet he can't help but feel a little sad when he picks up the crumpled blanket left on the couch.

Okay. Gutless invertebrate or not, he _has _a flight to fly at five in the afternoon, and he _has _to explain his subsequent disappearance (though he's sure that Aomine knows already, somehow).

So what is he going to do now? Drop Aomine a text and turn the phone off immediately so that he doesn't have to see the reply? … Not a good idea. Besides, the last time he actually did that was in high school.

In that moment Kise's own text message alert goes off, and he promptly panics. Is it from Aomine? Why is he texting? What did he say –

_IF YOU VALUE YOUR LIFE STAY AWAY FROM PLANES TODAY_, the text says in its fully capitalised glory. Kise is confused for a brief moment as to why Aomine sent such a message before he realises that the sender reads 'Midorimacchi'.

Dear lord,_ what_?

Having randomly received such ominous text messages on several occasions, Kise is sure that it's another horoscope thing. But the problem is, rather than being a simple caution, this particular one sounds like a warning to some imminent death – because Kise, unfortunately, is a pilot. A pilot who happened to have a scheduled flight today.

Um, okay.

Kise doesn't feel exceptionally comfortable with ignoring Midorima's text (especially that his previous warnings have been more-or-less useful), but work is still work. He can't just go, sorry I can't drive because my horoscope is incompatible with planes today, can he?

Because he can't, Kise decides to reply the text with a 'thank you but I can't skip work today'. Honestly, he'd rather do without these random disturbing texts, but it's good that Midorima cares, right?

Now that he has one more issue to worry about, Kise makes a mess of his packing and doesn't even realise it when he folds Aomine's shirts into his suitcase.

* * *

The phone starts ringing and Aomine is sure that it's Kise. He reminds himself not to sound grumpy or bored (even though it's his normal voice) before picking up.

"Hello?"

"… Why is your voice like that? Are you sick?"

– _Hah_?

* * *

Forgive me, but I just really like the headcannon that the GOM+Kagami randomly receives texts from Midorima which warns them about bad things related to their horoscopes. Oh, and that they always turn out somewhat accurate.


End file.
